Grand Island College - Islander Yearbook (Grand Island, NE)

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ageous spirit, in the face of handicaps, was admired by all the school. With the same team back next fall and a new gymnasium in which to practice-Watch the Zebras go! Those who received letters are as follows: Captain-elect Johanson, Captain Morris, Myrberg, Wurtz, Heusner, Root, Norine, Beal, Kleinkauf, Foster and Ritchie. The time and attention given to the boys by Coach Jones is appre- ciated by the student body and by the faculty. Basket Ball, 1925 The basketball season of 1924-25 was a hectic struggle. The team under Coach Jones rounded into shape in a reasonably short time on the Y. M. C. A. floor. The first foe was Kearney at home. They had been preceded by tales of their strength, and possibly this had something to do with their defeating us by a narrow margin. In the second game with Doane the Zebras stepped out in midseason form and smothered the Tigers in a fierce struggle that looked like rugby practice. Other games followed in too quick succession. We took a trip and fell before Doane and Cotner. Then drew blood at York. Invaded Kearney for revenge and got it in a combat that was anybody's till the last gong. Then we couldn't resist the temptation to take York again. York had a scrappy team, and it was no walkaway for us. Then we were visited by the talented crews from Wayne Normal, and Peru Normal. Both were successful in mopping us, which automatically b1'anded them as fast aggregations. Cotner didn't have such a bad layout and proved it when they upset the dope to win handily over the Zebras at G. I. On an earlier trip the Jones men had reached the crest of a mid- season slump simultaneously with a defeat at the hands of Peru. They were now to make one more invasion which was the last inter-collegiate contests for four long-term men, Rehder, Auhl, Cunningham, and Chord. The first game played at Midland was a primitive struggle with the oppo- sition chalking up a one point win. The next game was a little surprise for the Wayne lads. The lighter boys from the Island had Wayne looking them up in Who's Who, for a while but they organized the second half and showed a brand of ball which brooked no criticism. In the final game with Omaha U. it seemed in the first half as though victory had placed her shield over us, but the heretofore savage attack of the Zebras weakened in the second half while the Omaha boys found it rather hard to miss the steel hoop. Omaha counted 24 while the striped Zebras counted 20. Thus ended a hard-fought season. The warriors who went through that campaign need not be ashamed. They fought for G, I. and Jones until the final whistle. Lest we forget, the three battlers not mentioned above were: Seibert, C Slewfoot , etc.J, the flashy Smokey Wengert, and the hefty Flop Holmes. Let the names of this team be honored in basketballdom as long as the referees' whistle shall echo on the plains of Nebraska.

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ROOT DIL E. C. JONES, Foam-li MORRIS MYRBERC FOSTER RITCHIE WUKTZ NORINE KLEINKAUF NEAL HICUSNEIC JOHANSON Basket Ball, 1926 Due to the lack of a gymnasium in which to hold regular practice the Grand Island College basketball team did not get started until after the hol- idays. This put the squad nearly a month behind other schools in practice. Although the Zebras lost every game they were a scrappy bunch. Cliff Wurtz was the only letter man on the squad until Buck Myrberg showed up and demanded a berth on the team. He soon proved that he desei'ved it. Outside of these two veterans, the rest of the cagesters were inex- perienced men. The Zebras' first game was played on the High School floor against Midland. The boys fought hard but were decisively defeated. But with encouragement and training from one of the best coaches in the state, namely, Doc Jones, they became determined to do their best. The next game was with Cotner and was another walk-away, for the opponents. After this fast game Heusner and Norine declared they could do the Charleston. The next night the Islanders were defeated by Doane. The guards were indeed thankful that the opposing team refrained from putting in their giant. Morris was elected captain before the game. The team is still trying to find out how York Won the next game. It seemed as though the jinx was still trailing the Zebras. Even the Dean admitted something the matter. The Zebras were defeated by York again and lost to Kearney, Mid- land, Omaha, and Wayne. Hastings also defeated the Islanders. It mattered very little whether the boys were losing or winning- they played fast and hard, always keenly enjoying the game. Their cour-

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Q I 1 ' 1 ,,-- . is .. A :sbu Q. .. ' MK Nw I - .. t v., 'I J Resume of Tennis, 1925-Z6 During the year '25 tennis was more significant at Grand Island Col- lege than ever before in the history of the school. Wayland Rice and Fred Lape, then Juniors, Won the state championship in the doubles and Fred Lape played in the finals of the single match. The honor brought to the school by these two boys is very great. The large silver cup which they Won is admired by everyone on the campus. The time spent in practicing and in the study of technic is worthy of the attention of all who aspire to become champions. Professor Rice is to be given much credit for his val- uable coaching. It was necessary to find all new material for a tennis team this year. This was accomplished by means of a tournament in which Edward Panzer and Arnold Johanson Were the winning team. The runners-up were John Rusk and Wm. McGrath. Panzer won the singleslby beating Joe. These four composed the tennis team for the year. The first meet was with Hastings. Grand Island was defeated in both the singles and doubles. We won a singles game in which a popular though disgruntled Hastings star went down to defeat before Johnny Rusk. Grand Island won the singles and Kearney the doubles in a match held on our courts. A meet with Cotner and one with Kearney were cancelled on account of the weather. Grand Island College will enter three men in the state meet: A. Johan- son, E. Panzer, and J. Rusk. '